By Derek May:
I love professional basketball. I’ve bled Silver & Black for my San Antonio Spurs since my parents first got season tickets more than 30 years. One of my proudest moments was securing season tickets of our own to our bygone Silver Stars WNBA team (now the 2-time champion Las Vegas Aces). I follow my teams and their players throughout their careers and often well beyond. I LOVE it!
So how then am I JUST NOW learning that Ice Cube has had a 3x3 professional basketball league chock-a-block with former NBA, WNBA, international, and college superstars (including Hall of Famers) for the past . . . check notes . . . 7 years?!?!
How did I miss that??
I take solace in that fact that none of the fellow basketball aficionados in my orbit knew about it either—not even my father, and he watches speed cubing on the Ocho!
It was a Facebook ad that first drew my attention (whaddya know, the algorithm finally worked), but when I learned that the league would be playing in San Antonio on August 4, 2024, that locked me in. With tickets for my parents, my wife, and I secured, it was time to get up to speed on this thing before the BIG day.
BIG3 is a 3-on-3 basketball league that came into existence in 2017 under co-founders Jeff Kwatinetz, an entertainment executive, and rapper/actor/producer/all-around icon Ice Cube. Currently, there are 12 teams (most with triple-themed names such as 3-Headed Monsters and Killer 3s). Most of the players have NBA, international, or at least college-level experience. One of the intents behind the league was to give aging players who still had skill and desire but could no longer survive the grueling 82-game schedule of the NBA a chance to continue to play, earn substantial money and acclaim, and extend their careers. For those past their playing days, there are opportunities to parley their names and reputations into coaching positions.
You may have noticed 3x3 ball 4 years ago when it was first held at the Tokyo Olympic Games in which the US women took gold (thanks to Aces teammates Jackie Young and Kelsey Plum). With the sport returning to Paris this year, you would be right in thinking 3x3 is gaining traction for its exciting and relentless pace. But while there are similarities, BIG3 ball is certainly its own thing.
Much like in the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), BIG3 is a half-court game played by 3 players per team at a time; but whereas the former has an air and style of traditional basketball, the latter is more akin to the city streetball courts, with all the swagger, hype, and grittiness that entails. Games are untimed but generally last an hour. The winner is the first team to 50 points (must win by 2), with a brief halftime taken once either team hits 25 points. Unlike FIBA, behind the arc is still worth 3 points, inside worth 2, but there are also distance markers worth 4 points. But one of the more interesting recently added elements is the “Fireball,” a coach-instigated challenge setting up a single 1-on-1 play signaled by massive flames bursting from giant metal towers.
The stopover in San Antonio reflects the current format, which has multiple teams travel city to city over the course of the 9-week season to play a single-day series of games. In our case, that meant 4 games in a row—an opportunity to watch 8 teams. In terms of value for your buck, at about $25 per seat (not center court) and $20 parking, it’s not a bad deal. The unexpected downside, however, of 4 straight hours of basketball is that even for die-hards it starts to wear thin by hour 3. Earlier in the season, cities showcased 6 games—a bit much even for me.
But you know never tires of it? Ice Cube. Not only was he there for literally every moment of the games (I don’t think he even took a bathroom break), he gave the introductory speech, hyped every win and baller play, and even received two awards from the city council declaring Ice Cube and BIG3 Day! His dedication and enthusiasm is contagious, drawing in fans and celebrities alike, including Hall of Famer Clyde “the Glide” Drexler, current Spurs Jeremy Sochan and Sidy Cissoko, and rapper/TV star Xzibit.
The event itself has a very different vibe from an NBA game. Fans seem a little more relaxed, the drip game is a little stronger, and the musical choices are less geared to hype anthems than grooves to get your feet moving and head bopping, whether it be old-school hip-hop, 70s funk, or slick modern tracks. Obviously willing to support other artists, Cube brought out various rappers, such as Lil’ Keke and Lil’ Flip, either at halftime or between games to keep the crowd pumped.
Taking the opportunity to enlighten a captive audience, there were also PSAs and banners throughout for the “Widen the Screen” campaign, aimed at changing the way the world sees Black people and challenging stereotypical assumptions. It’s a wonderful and beautiful way to integrate sponsorship (the campaign comes from Procter & Gamble) and activism, a savvy and beautiful pairing akin to what the WNBA is doing with their own league.
The games themselves are a fast, almost relentless battle with few breaks. This requires a deeper bench, usually 6 players, who are regularly subbed out. Like any good team, you have your stars and your role players, and when they gel it’s a wonder to behold but, as we observed, there were clear gulfs in talent (or at least chemistry) between the teams.
The first matchup ended in a 50–23 blowout for 3’s Company (headlined by NBA stars Mario Chalmers, Reggie Evans, and Michael Beasley and coached by 5-time NBA champ Michael Cooper) against last year’s BIG3 champs the Enemies, coached by NBA superstar Nick “Swaggy P” Young (apparently lacking swag that day).
I was a bit crushed that Tri-State (led by Jason Richardson and Amir Johnson) defeated hometown hero/Hall of Famer George “the Iceman” Gervin’s Ghost Ballers 50–34. I take solace, however, in that Gervin’s coaching skills were matched against one of the all-time masters of the game, Julius “Dr. J” Erving himself, as well as the fact BIG3 ran a touching tribute to Ice during the bout, showcasing not only his basketball greatness but his longstanding local community service (such as the George Gervin Academy). They did a similar tribute to another Spurs legend, Avery “the Little General” Johnson, who serves as color commentator for all BIG3 games and received a well-deserved standing ovation following his tribute.
A much closer and more exciting matchup came next, as we witnessed WNBA superstar, Olympian, and Hall of Famer Lisa Leslie coaching the Triplets (including stars Joe Johnson and former Spur Jeff Ayres) against the indominable play of Corey Brewer (BIG3 MVP frontrunner) and his confusingly monikered Bivouac team (no idea how that fits the theme). Brewer put on a show, embodying the league’s raison d’etre that even after 13 years in the NBA you can still have more to give, more to strive for. Their play was all the more impressive in that Bivouac’s coach, NBA Hall of Famer Gary Payton, wasn’t even there! Instead, he was watching the Olympics (which doesn’t change my personal opinion of him as one of the NBA’s all-time jerks). But the 51–46 win over the Triplets gave us a real taste of the competitiveness that can thrill the crowd when the game is played to its fullest.
By the time the fourth and final game rolled around we were all getting a little antsy and hoped for a quick wrap-up. That wasn’t to be, as the battle between the Trilogy and the Ball Hogs seemed to drag on forever, by far the longest game of the day. Once again, SA fans were treated to a homecoming, with Triplets head coach and former Spur Stephen Jackson leading the team to eventual victory over an impressively stacked opponent that included Leandro Barbosa, Jodie Meeks, and Larry Sanders. And for old-school fans like me, it was a real treat to witness 80-year-old NBA and ABA star Rick Barry (father of former Spur and current VP of Spurs Basketball operations Brent Barry) coach the Ball Hogs—in fact, he was there doing his job even as his other son, Canyon Barry, was playing 3x3 for the US at the Olympics (take that Payton!) while shooting underhand free throws just like his pops.
As we left the Front Bank Center following a fun but exhausting day, we all seemed to agree that while it was certainly an enjoyable basketball experience, we weren’t keen to revisit it anytime soon. The sheer volume of basketball packs a punch for the price, but there’s a cost in energy and attention that I’m not sure balances out. For next season, BIG3 is altering its format to have teams playing out of a home city, which might allow for more spreading of the games and more local connections.
Such changes are a hallmark of the league as it constantly adjusts to find new ways to expand. While already incorporating WNBA legends Lisa Leslie and Nancy Lieberman, there was a big public push to land current star-of-the-hour Caitlin Clark, offering her an unprecedented $5 million to play just 8 games (though in reality forcing her to forego the W). While that obviously didn’t work out, that’s not stopping the league from trying to integrate female players, which would be a boon and a much-needed income for talent unable to slip into the limited professional slots available. In fact, BIG3 is now inspiring others such as WNBA stars Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier, who are starting their own exclusive 3x3 league, Unrivaled, in order to bolster salaries and provide off-season work.
One thing is for sure, BIG3 is making waves, and whether you’re a long-time fan or just hearing about it, it is committed to slowly assuming a place in fans’ collective basketball consciousness. While that seems to be butting heads with the NBA, it’s doing the good work of providing longevity to players, relevance to coaches, and social awareness for its audience.
If the seasonal tour isn’t visiting or settling in a town near you, you can still catch games every Saturday on CBS, and you’re just in time for the championship game happening this Sunday, August 18, in Boston between Bivouac and 3’s Company, including a Celebrity Game and an All-Star Game (3 pm EST on CBS).
I’ll be tuning in, because while I might be on the fence whether to endure a full outing in person in the near future, the league has definitely caught my interest, and I’m excited to see it grow. If you’re a basketball fan, I recommend giving it a chance, because if nothing else, the element that shines brightest in the BIG3 is its absolute love for the game, and you can never go wrong with that.
Derek May, of San Antonio, TX, is Editor-in-Chief and occasional writer for Flapper Press. He has written nearly 50 movie reviews for movieweb.com and completed 13 original feature film and television screenplays, many of which have been winners or finalists in such prestigious competitions as the Walt Disney and Nicholl Fellowships, the Austin Film Festival, and the Creative World Awards. He served as a judge for 10 years for the Austin Film Festival and Texas Film Institute screenplay competitions. His latest project has been the highly acclaimed stop-motion animation fan series Highlander: Veritas, which released its second season in July 2022.
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